Let's take a moment to settle in,
A moment to appreciate that we've come here,
We're offering ourselves this time to sit,
And very gently we can have a resolution to make the best out of this precious time.
We're really offering ourselves a gift by allowing us to take some space during our day and look at what's actually happening inside of us and also outside.
This can be a moment to fully appreciate our inner landscape.
So you can close your eyes if you haven't done so already,
And naturally you might notice that different things come up.
Of course there's going to be the awareness of my voice and the instructions,
But also different things will come up.
Thoughts,
Sensations,
Other noises,
Maybe even sights,
Even though your eyes are closed.
In this sit we're not trying to push away anything.
Anything that appears is fine,
Anything that disappears is fine as well.
So we're going to take this time to explore some facets of our inner life.
We're going to look at two different faculties that we have inside of us,
And these are really two different ways of interacting or knowing the world.
So first we are going to let ourselves just look or hear or sense whatever arises.
Different sensations related to sitting,
The feeling of the atmosphere in the room,
The temperature,
Different sounds that can come up of your own body or surrounding sounds.
So it's as if we had a spotlight and we could move it from place to place in the present moment.
One moment you'll be listening to my voice,
The other there might be a thought,
And the other you might reflect on some sensations in your body and maybe even resolve to move your body to be more comfortable.
This can feel as though this is the center of your experience.
Now let's put a condition to the things that we observe.
Let's bring attention to the center of our experience.
Let's direct it towards body sensations.
So instead of letting attention freely roam,
We're placing one condition.
Sensations in the body.
Could be in your face,
Upper chest,
Lower chest,
In the back,
In the legs,
Hands,
Feet,
Arms.
Wherever there are sensations you can let attention move naturally.
Now let's be even more specific and place one extra condition of things we are observing,
Things we are having at the center of our experience.
Let's look more specifically at breath sensations in the body.
As you inhale,
Feel the sensations related to breathing.
As you exhale,
Feel the sensations related to breathing.
Now what we are doing now is playing with attention.
We have started with a wide scope of attention and narrowed it down progressively.
We could narrow it down even more.
For now we're going to keep it at breath sensations in the body.
Now even though you're focusing on breath sensations in the body,
You're still aware of other things that can happen.
You're still aware that you have a body.
Still aware that you're sitting in a room.
Still aware of the temperature in the room.
Still aware of my voice in the background.
You're able to do this because you have two different faculties of mind.
One is attention.
This is what we can move and narrow down.
This is how we notice details.
And then you have awareness,
Which is a bit more fuzzy but much more global and inclusive.
When we meditate,
We're not only using attention and not only using awareness.
We're using both simultaneously.
Developing attention to be stable,
To be able to direct it intentionally.
It's super useful.
That's called concentration.
Developing concentration.
On the other hand,
The development of awareness,
Making it open,
Clear,
Inclusive,
That's called mindfulness.
Again,
Attention is focused on breath sensations in the body,
But you're still feeling your body as a whole.
Feeling your posture.
Aware of what you're doing.
It's a very natural state.
Now let's remove one of the conditions that were placed.
Let's look at any sensations in the body.
Opening up attention.
Widening its playground.
So awareness itself doesn't necessarily change.
It's still open,
Receiving anything that's coming in.
Attention,
On the other hand,
Kind of the spotlight,
Can move a bit more freely in a wider space.
All body sensations.
You might notice it wants to stabilize in some places.
Might be more easily attentive to some sensations rather than others.
That's fine.
But the faculty that is watching these movements of attention,
That's awareness.
Now removing one more condition.
Letting attention move freely.
Whatever sense,
Even thoughts,
Might be appearing in this moment.
Notice how attention can move,
But awareness is the same as it was.
It's open.
Just taking everything in.
So remember,
As you approach any meditation,
The balance of these two faculties is crucial.
We can intentionally direct attention.
We can train it to be more stable by bringing it back and back and back.
But we're also developing awareness to cultivate mindfulness.
We do this by staying open to whatever is happening.
By letting the background of our experience be alive.
By really feeling what's happening in the present moment and not shutting down.
Also awareness allows us to watch the movements of attention.
And this is even what allows us to notice when we are distracted.
We should be really grateful when we notice that we were distracted.
Because this means our awareness is really functioning well.
So as I ring the gong,
Notice how your attention might be captured by the sound.
While awareness can remain open as it was.
Now whenever you feel like it,
You can open your eyes and keep noticing this interplay of attention and awareness.
Naturally attention will be caught by sight,
By the visual field.
But awareness can remain naturally open.
Not only during sits,
But throughout the day.
